Half to george f



(NqModeL) \Nltg E55E5 QZg w/. 43M.

D. F. SULLIVAN. cIEoULA SPRING NEEDLE KNITTING MACHINE.

Patented Sept. 1-5, 1891.

DANIEL F. SULLIVAN, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR ONE- HALF TOGEORGE F. BLAIR, OF SAME PLACE.

CIRCULAR SPRING-NEEDLE KNITTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 459,714, datedSeptember 15, 1891.

Application filed October 27, 1890. Serial No. 369,490. (No model.)

' Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Circular SpringNeedle Knitting Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to circular spring-needle knitting machines, andcomprises a plain presser or presser-wheel adapted to close the beardsof all the needles and a cut-presser or presser adapted to close thebeards of some of the needles, but having radial slots of a sufficientdepth and suitably arranged to receive others of the needles withoutclosing their beards,wit-h automaticmeansfor moving said presser-wheelsor pressers'into and out of contact with the circle of needles in theneedle-cylinder, to vary the stitch, and automatic means for changingthe action of the cut-presser from one set of needles to another set ofneedles to change the tuck-stitches or raised stitches from one set ofneedles to the other.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an isometric perspective viewof a part of the table, needle-cylinder, and needles of a circularspring-needle knitting machine and of my improvement applied thereto,part of the ratchet-wheel being broken away to show the cams whichdetermine the position of the presser-s, showing the plain presser incontact and the out presser out of contact with the beards of theneedles; Fig. 2, a central vertical section of the presser-wheels, theirsupporting-studs, brackets, spindles, springs, and the stand whichsupports them, the pressers being in the position. shown in Fig. 1; Fig.3, a vertical transverse section on the line 3 S in Fig. 2 of thepresser-wheel stand and a right side elevation of the ratchet, cams andtheir supporting-stand, the cam levers, and the pins which project fromthe spindles to engage said levers, said levers being partly in section;Fig. 4, a plan of the presser-wheels, the brake of the plain or upperpresser, and a part of the stem of said brake, and a row of needles, theupper presser being represented as acting on needles, showing also thepin carried by the upper presser and adapted to engage and rotate thelower presser. Fig. 5 is like Fig. at, except that the lower presser isrepresented as?) peratin g upon the beards of alternate needles; Figs. 6and 7, plans of the lower or cut presser, showing the pin which projectsfrom the plain presser into a groove in the lower or out presser inhorizontal section, said pin in Fig. (5 being in the position itoccupies when the upper or plain presser is in operation and in Fig. 7in the position it occupies when the lower or cut presser is inoperation.

The table A, needlecylinder B,.needles C, and plain presser D are all ofthe usual construction and operation, except as hereinafl ter statedwith relation to the plain presser. These parts are used in connectionwith stitchwheels which press the yarn against and between the needlesbelow the needle-beards and carry said yarn under the beards-that is,between the beards and the shanks of the needlesand with a push-backwhich carries the loops down below the beards of the needles, and withother wheels and parts commonly used in such machines, the object of thepresser or presser-wheel being to close the beards in against theshanks-of the needles to allow the old loops to be d rawn over the newones and off from the needles.

The presser-wheel stand E is essentially like the presser-wheel stand inordinary use, except that it is provided with two sleeves e 6', arrangedone above the other, the upper sleeve e receiving the spindle F, whichcarries the upper presser D, which in this case is a plain presserot'common form, except that usually the plain presser when new has acircular edge Without notches, but when used for some time it becomesnotched by wearing on the needles, so as to be substantially like thepresser D shown in the drawings, which is notched before use at d atintervals correspending with the intervals between the needles, in orderthat said presser D may al- 5 ways have the same number-of revolutionsto a single revolution of the needle-cylinder and in order that the cutpresser may be so controlled by means hereinafter described as tooperate upon the required set of needles. The presser D turns upon astud (1 having a screw-threaded end which enters a bracket f in theusual manner, except that the stud. d is commonly driven into thebracket in the reverse direct-ion from what is shown in the drawings,the bracket being retained on the inner end of the spindle or endnearest the needle-cylinder by a set-screwf' which turns radially insaid bracket and thrusts against said spindle in the usual manner. Thespindle is thrust inward-that is, toward the needle-cylinderin the usualmanner bya spring f compressed between the shoulder f on the spindle,and anotherinternalannularshoulder e on the sleeve 6. The pressure ofthe presser D upon the needles isli mited by a star or nut f which turnson the spindle F beyond the outer end of the sleeve e. The sleeve 6' islike the sleeve 6, and the spindle F,bracketf, setscrewf, stud (Zspringf staror nutf, and shoulders f" c gare precisely like the parts ofthe same name above described and bearing the same letters of referencewith an indexfigure one less, and have the same functions with relationto the cut prcsser D as those parts have with relation to the plainpresser l). The cut presser D is provided with shallow notches (Z,precisely like thosein the plain presser D, except that they arefartherapart, being represented in the drawings as twice as far apart,the place of the alternate notches (Z in the plain presser beingsupplied in the cut presser by radial studs (Z' of a sufiicient depth toallow the needles to enter them withoutpressure upon the beards of theneedles. It is evident that it the nuts f f are so adjusted as toallowthe pressers D D'to be concentric with each other and.in contactwith the needles both pressers will have no more eti'ect upon the beardsof the needles than would be exerted by the plain presserD alone. It isalso obvious that if the presser D be drawn out of contact with theneedles and the presser I) be allowed to remain in contact with theneedles only every other needle will be pressed,and the stitches willaccu1nulate on the unpressed needles and will there remain until thebeards ot' the needles on which the stitches have accumulated arepressed or until the beards of the needles have been broken out by theaccumulated stitches catchingin the loop-wheelsand other wheels of themachine.

'luck-work, so called, is made by drawing single loops or stitches ofone course through several loops or stitches allowed to accumulate onthe same needles for two or more courses, thusformingtucks orbunehes ofstitches which project slightly from the surface of the fabric by acourse, meaning the stitches formed in one revolution of theneedle-cylinder. To give adiagonal arrangement to the tucks or bunchesof stitches it is necessary that the cut presser should operate upon adifferent set of needles in forming each horizontal line of tucks aroundthe fab ric. Thus, supposing the tucks are intended to be each four andone, or fourloops united by a singleloop, and that the tucks in each roware desired to be below the intervals between the tucks ofthenextpreceding row,it would be necessary to apply the cut presseralone to the needles for four courses or revolutions of theneedle-cylinder, then to apply the plain presser for one course, andthen to apply the cut presser to the needles not pressed by it informing the last preceding set of tucks. I therefore provide the meansdescribed be low, by which the plain presser D is drawn out of contactwith the needles to allow the cut presser D to operate alone onalternate needles and similar means by which the cutpresser is drawn outof such contact and stopped or retarded long enough to cause said cutpresser, when again throwninto contact with the needles, to operate upona different set. of needles from those last previously operated upon byit, said pressers being held in such contact, respectively, by thesprings f f and one of said pressers being at all times in such contact.

Upon a suitable stand g, on a horizontal arbor g, turns a ratchet-wheelG, operated by a pawl 7t, pivoted on abar H, guided radially to theneedle-cylinder in said stand g and drawn by the contraction of a springh (attached at its respective ends to said stand 9 and to a stud 7L2,which projects laterally from said bar II) into the path of a cam H,secured to said needle-cylinder, so that once in every revolution ofsaid needle-cylinder said bar II is moved endwise and by means of saidpawl 71 rotates the ratchet G an annular distance measured by one tooththereof, said pawl being kept in engagement with said ratchet by aspring h in a well-known manner. The ratchet G is prevented from beingcarried too far by its own momentum by a friction spring or brake 9secured to the stand 9 and pressing against the teeth of said ratchet.Cam-wheels I I are secured to the ratchet G concentrically therewith,and the cam-wheel I is provided with a series of notches i, havingbackwardly-inclined sides t said notches alternating with curved facest'flconcentric with said cam-wheel I, and each notch i being representedas of about one half the angular measurement of one of said curved facesand as of twice the angular measurement of a tooth of the ratchet G. Theother I of said cam-wheels is represented as provided with a series ofprojections 1' arranged at the same intervals apart as the intervalsbetween the notches t', measuring from the middle of one notch to themiddle of the next notch.

Cam-levers J J are pivoted at j j on the sleeves e c, respectively, andare bent at the free ends of their longer arms at 7' 7' into contactwith the peripheries of said cam-wheels, respectively. Each of thespindles F F is provided with a laterally-projecting pin 1 f, which pinsproject through longitudinal slots 8 c in the sleeves e c, whichsurround said spindle, and through slots j j in the ends of the shorterarms of the levers J J so ICC that when the bent free ends 3' j of thelevers J J, respectively, rest upon the cam-surface 2' of the cam-wheelsthe presser carried by the corresponding spindle is held out ofengagement with the needles, but when said free end of either leverenters a notch of the cam-wheel the corresponding spindleFF is thrown byits spring f f toward the needlecylinder, and the presser carried bysaid spindle is brought into operation.

The plain presser D has rigidly secured thereto a downwardly-projectingpin d, which enters a radial groove (1 in the upper surface of the cutpresser D, the sides of said groove (1 being struck by said pin d andlimiting the rotary movement of said'pressers on each other, said groove61 being just wide enough to allow either presser to turn on the otheran angular distance measured by the are which connects the centers oftwo adjacent needlenotches cl of the plain presser D. 1

Each spindle F F is provided with an axial hole f f in which slides thestem 7c of the brakes K K, provided with shoes k 70", each having'asurface adapted to press with sufficicnt friction upon the hubs (Z d ofthe pressers D D to stop the rotation of either presser when the same isdrawn away from the needles and against said brake. The outer end of thestem of each brake K K extends through a hole or slot in the free end ofone of the springs 70 k secured to the presserwheel stand E, and isprevented from moving in said spring by nuts 70 k turning 011 the outerscrew-threaded ends k 7; of said stems on opposite sides of saidsprings, which nuts should be adjusted to prevent any pressure of thebrake upon the hub of the presser when the latter is in workingposition. When either presser is drawn out of contact with the needlesand into contact with its brake, it is momentarily stopped, while theother presser continues to be rotated by engagement with the needles,and the pin d is thereby instantly brought against a side of the groove(1 causing the idle presser tobe rotated by the operating presser, sothat when suchidle presser is again thrown into engagement any notch (Zof such presser engages a needle next adjacent to the needle previouslyreceived by the same notch (Z. The friction upon the idle presser of itsbrake continues while such presser is out of engagement with theneedles, but is too slight to prevent the rotation of said idle presserby the operating-presser, as above described, and only sufficient toovercome the momentum of said idle presser. It is immaterial which notchd of the plain presser engages any given needle, because all saidnotches are alike; but causing any notch d of the cut presser to engagea needle next to the needle engaged in its last previous contact withthe needles causes the needle so previously engaged to enter a slot (1'of said out presser when the plain presser is next drawn out ofengagement with the needles and allows the stitches to accumulate 011said last-named needle, as above described, until the plain presser isagain thrown against the needles. It is not necessary that the outersurfaces or ends of the cams i should be of any definite length for thereason that the cut presser requires to be disengaged from the needlesonly long enough to be retarded by its brake, as above described,because its en-' manner. During the fifth course the accumu- Ilatedstitches will be gatheredintucks, and the sixth course will be knitplain in the usual manner, the operation being then repeated, theseventh and three following courses belng like the first four courses,the eleventh and twelfth like the fifth and sixth, and so on. There is adanger of either presser being jarred out of its proper position aftercoming out of contact with the brake and before it engages with a newsetof needles, and therefore the groove d is divided nearly from end to endby a radial partition (Z there being room enough between the ends of thepartition and the ends of said groove to allow the pin d to move fromside to side of said groove when one presser is fully in engagement withthe needles and the other presser is at the greatest distance from saidneedles, the partition at all other times preventing the partialrotation of one presser on the other.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of a needle-cylinder and itsseries of needles, a presser adapted to close the'beards of all saidneedles, another presser adapted to close the beards of a part of saidneedles only at regular intervals in said series, means for disengagingsaid pressers alternately with each other from said needles and for ie-engaging said pressers with said needles, and means for causing thepresser which operates upon a part of said needles only to operate upona different set of needles at each engagement thereof, as and for thepurpose specified.

2. The combination of a needle-cylinder and its series of needles, apresser-wheel provided with notches at equal intervals with saidneedles, another presser provided with notches arranged at twice theintervals of said needles and provided with radial slots equal in numberto said last-named notches and alternating with said notches at equalintervals, means for disengaging said pressers alternately with eachother from said needles and for re-engaging said pressers with saidneedles, and means for causing said radiallyslotted presser to operateupon a different set ITO of needles at each engagement thereof, as andfor the purpose specified.

3. The combination of a needle-cylinder and its series of needles, apresser adapted to close the beards of all said needles, another presseradapted to close the beards of a part of said needles only at regularintervals in said series, and means for disengaging said pressersalternately with each other from said needles and for re-en gaging saidpressers with said needles, one of said pressers being provided with agroove and the other of said pressers being provided with a pin whichenters said groove, said groove being of such width as to allow eitherof said pressers to turn on the other an angular distance meas ured bythe are which connects two adjacent grooves in said first-named presser,as and for the purpose specified.

at. The combination of a needle-cylinder and its series of needles, apresser adapted to close the beards of all said needles, another presseradapted to close the beards of a part of said needles only at regularintervals in said series, means for disengaging said pressersalternately with each other from said needles and for ire-engaging saidpressers with said needles, one of said pressers being provided with agroove and the other of said pressers being provided with a pin whichenters said groove, said groove being of such width as to allow eitherof said pressers to turn on the other an angular distance measured bythe are which connects two adjacent grooves in said first-named presser,and brakes to check the rotation of said pressers when disengaged fromsaid needles, as and for the purpose specified.

5. The combination of a needle-cylinder and its series of needles, apresseradapted to close the beards of all said needles, another presseradapted to close the beards of a part of said needles only at regularintervals in said series, means for disengaging said pressers a1-ternately with each other from said needles and for re-engaging saidpressers with said needles, one of said pressers being provided with agroove and the other of said pressers being provided with a pin whichenters said groove, said groove beingof such width as to allow either ofsaid pressers to turn on the other an angular distance measured by theare which connects two adjacent grooves in said first-named presser, anda partition dividing said groove nearly from end to end, but leavingspace enough for said pin to move from side to side of said groovebetween said partition and the ends of said groove to prevent saidpressers from rotating on each other while either of said pressers isbeing moved into engagement with said needles, as and for the purposespecified.

6. The combination of a needlecylinder and its series of needles,apresser adapted to close the beards of all said needles, anotherpresser adapted to close the beards of a part of said needles only atregular intervals in said series, means for disengaging said pressersalternately with each other from said needles and for re-engaging saidpressers with said needles, one of said pressers being provided with agroove and the other of said pressers being provided with a pin whichenters said groove, said groove being of such Width as to allow eitherof said pressers to turn on the other an angular distance measured bythe are which connects two adjacent grooves in said first-named presser,brakes against which said pressers are drawn to check the rotation ofsaid pressers when moved out of engagement with said needles, and apartition dividing said groove nearly from end to end to prevent saidpressers from rotating on each other when either of said pressers is outof contact with its brake and disengaged from said needles, as and forthe purpose specified.

In Witness whereof I have signed this specification,in the presence oftwo attesting witnesses, this 22d day of September, A. D. 1890.

DANIEL F. SULLIVAN.

Witnesses:

ALBERT M. Moonn, MYRTIE C. BEALS.

